Regulated power supplies or voltage regulators are typically required to supply voltage and current to microelectronic devices. The voltage regulators are typically designed to convert power from a primary source to an electrical load at the specified voltage. Switching power converters (SPCs) are commonly used voltage regulators due to their high efficiency, high current capability, and topology flexibility. In addition, they can be designed to provide very precise voltage and current characteristics required by devices such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory devices, and the like.
Power requirements for emerging leading edge technology microprocessors have become very difficult to satisfy. As the speed and integration of microprocessors increases, the demands on the power regulation system also increase. In particular, as gate counts increase, the current demand increases, the operating voltage decreases and transient events (e.g., relatively large voltage spikes or droops at the load) typically increase in both magnitude and frequency. Some emerging microprocessors are expected to run on less than 1.3 volts and more than 100 amperes.
SPCs utilizing step-down multi-phase buck regulators have been the preferred topology to meet the low voltage and high current requirements of microprocessors. With the advent of increasingly complex power regulation topologies, digital techniques for power converter control can improve precision and reduce the system's total parts count while also supporting multiple applications in the same power system through digitally programmable feedback control.